


resistance

by taywen



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friendship, Gen, Second Chances, Spoilers, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-16 17:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 19,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taywen/pseuds/taywen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi wakes up in Obito's new world. Or does he?</p>
<p>Spoilers up to chapter 606.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 01: awakening

Kakashi wakes up in Minato-sensei's spare bedroom, his eyes flying open just as his alarm starts going off. He stumbles out of the bed and turns it off before he realizes that something is very, very wrong.

Minato-sensei knocks and then sticks his head in the room. "Did you sleep in?" he asks with a grin, and Kakashi can only stare. This only serves to make the (dead, Minato-sensei is _dead_ ) man's smile widen. "Wow, you're really tired, huh? Well I'd let you sleep in but we have a mission this morning..."

Minato-sensei trails off, starting to look really worried. "Are you feeling ok, Kakashi?" He takes a step forward, raises a hand to-

Kakashi darts back, before he realizes that Minato-sensei probably just meant to check for a fever. Something in his gut twists when he sees the hurt look on Minato-sensei's face. "Sorry," he says reflexively, then starts at the sound of his own voice. Pre-pubescent, unbroken. He glances down, and yes, the floor is much closer than he is used to. "Bad dream," he hears himself lie.

Minato-sensei blinks, then grins sheepishly. "Ah, in that case... Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Kakashi says curtly. "I have to get ready for the mission. When do we leave?" His priority is to get Minato-sensei out of the room so he can get his bearings. Maybe.

"We're due at the main gates in an hour and a half," Minato-sensei answers, looking at Kakashi curiously. He never has to tell Kakashi mission details because the boy always commits them to memory.

Shinobi rule- Well. He doesn't even remember what rule it is anymore. Something about preparedness.

"Un." He wasn't very talkative when he was still Minato-sensei's pupil, so keeping his mouth shut seems like a safe way to go.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," the blond says, casting one last glance at him before shutting the door on his way out. His presence lingers nearby, just at the end of the hall. Kakashi always thought that his teacher's chakra felt like the sun, usually warm and inviting- but at times it could sharpen, beating down mercilessly with the man's rarely evoked killing intent.

Kakashi dismisses the thought and quickly dresses. The lack of his flak vest is at once familiar and foreign. He decides to ignore that too. He must be chuunin, at least. He was only genin for such a brief time, and he thinks this body must be nearing puberty...

His father's chakra blade is on the desk; upon drawing it, he sees that it is intact.

So, before that disastrous mission in Grass; presumably before he made jounin. Unless the mission they're preparing for is-

His gaze flicks to the calendar mounted behind his door. While he can't pick out the exact date - Kakashi was never one to cross days off as they passed - he can figure out the year and month. About six months before that mission, before Obito-

Obito.

Kakashi narrows his eyes and finishes pulling on his various weapons. It's strange to have a full field of vision, with no excess information being transmitted from Obito's left eye. That was always disorienting, having to deal with such detailed images from his left eye compared to the normal (inferior) vision of his own eye - but it's almost as disorienting now, to have an unimpeded field of vision.

_Is Obito behind this?_ he wonders. _Is this Obito's new world? Did we lose?_ He tries to remember, but all he can recall is Obito's ruined face and Madara's arrival before his old teammate (friend, Obito was a friend by the end- by what Kakashi thought was the end) could explain what the fuck he thought he was doing.

Kakashi stares at his diminutive reflection in the mirror for several long moments. He doesn't know what's bothering him more, the younger version of his body or the matching set of dark eyes.

Minato-sensei calls him to breakfast before he can decide, and he distracts himself by subtly trying to test the limits of the genjutsu as he questions his guardian as casually as possible.


	2. 02: (good) morning

Kakashi observes the village as he and Minato-sensei make their way to the gates. While this isn't the village that he is used to, before and after Pain's invasion, it doesn't look like a fake. There are buildings missing, but that's because they haven't been constructed yet; the most obvious difference is the number of faces carved in the cliffside. Only three Hokage have assumed the mantle so far, and so only three likenesses have been carved.

He studies the Shodai's face, tracing the familiar lines that he has never really _looked_ at before. A Hokage is a figure worthy of respect, but even in his (relatively) old age, Kakashi never gave it much thought. He was half-expecting to see Madara's face there, or perhaps beside the Shodai's, but it's not. If this is the ideal world, would Madara have not wanted to become Hokage? That's what history (legend) seems to suggest, but...

(History is written by the victors.)

Kakashi pushes the thought out of his mind and focuses on Minato-sensei's back instead. All evidence seems to point to this being the village that he remembers from his youth, not something twisted to fit the ideals of certain mad Uchiha; he just doesn't know that _means_...

They walk up to the main gates at the same time as Rin, and seeing her face is like a punch in the gut.

Kakashi doesn't quite gasp, but his breath does hitch as he remembers putting his hand through her chest. She really wasn't (won't be- no, Kakashi can't do it again, he _won't_ do it again) much older than this when he did it, although back then a year seemed like an eternity to him.

He knows better, now.

"Good morning sensei, Kakashi!" Rin says brightly, smiling at them.

"Good morning, Rin," Minato-sensei replies, grinning back.

"Morning," Kakashi manages, his voice cracking in an embarrassing manner.

They both look at him oddly. Kakashi is suddenly overwhelmed.

"I'll go find Obito and make him hurry up," he says, dropping his pack on the ground beside them and basically running away.

"But we're a little bit early!" Rin calls behind him. "Obito might not even be late yet!"

Ever the optimist. Kakashi pretends not to hear her as he darts away.


	3. 03: confrontation

Obito's family lives in a larger apartment close to the traditional Uchiha district. Kakashi didn't often have occasion to visit, but he has never forgotten the address. Fortunately, his father works in the police force (his mother died in childbirth) and his younger sister attends the Academy, so neither of them should be home right now.

Breaking into Obito's room is as easy as he remembers. There are traces of Obito's presence - the sheets are unmade, there's a bit of lingering warmth between them; a half-empty pack sits beside the door - but he's not there.

Kakashi draws a kunai before remembering his father's blade. Well, at the moment he's more accustomed to wielding the shorter blade, and if it's Obito he's going to need all the advantages he can get.

He steps into the hallway, but there's no familiar chakra signature, glowing steadily if faintly, like a distant star. Or the harsh, unrelenting pressure that he had felt during that last battle...

"Obito, you're late," he settles on, slipping into his old (young, really) cold tone. Better to pretend like he doesn't know what's going on, probably. "What do you think you're doing?" He scans the hallway, but the majority of the doors are closed. He doesn't know if Obito is hiding from him or simply not here...

But what if Obito already has his Sharingan? If this is Obito's ideal world... But it can't be, why would Kakashi remember anything other than this if it was?

"What are you doing in my _house_ -" Obito's familiar, petulant tone breaks the silence as he walks out of the bathroom, his face still damp (and whole, unscarred) from, presumably, washing. He stops dead upon seeing Kakashi's drawn weapon, something in his expression shifting. He draws his own kunai in about two seconds, with none of the fumbling that would have accompanied the action if the pair of them had really still been chuunin on Team Minato.

" _You_ ," Kakashi hisses, lunging at him.

Obito gets his kunai up faster than he should be able to to block Kakashi's initial strike. "What are you doing?!" he snaps in that same petulant tone, but the look of fury on his face says that he knows exactly what's going on.

" _What is this_!?" Kakashi demands, trying to sweep Obito's legs out from beneath him. His (former) teammate dodges, darting into the bedroom, but Kakashi throws out a handful of shuriken to stop him from escaping out the window.

So, no Sharingan. He isn't using Kamui to escape or even to evade any of Kakashi's attacks; his eyes have remained their familiar dark grey, with no red to corrupt them.

Regardless, Obito seems to have retained his skill, because Kakashi finds himself on the defensive. When they were teammates, Obito would never have gotten the upper hand like this.

"Why is this- why can you-!?" Obito snarls, and Kakashi barely twists out of the way in time; the sting of Obito's kunai slicing through his mask (and his cheek) only registers a moment later.

"What did you do!?" Kakashi finds an opening in that moment, when Obito overextends himself and lacks the agility to pull back. For all his remembered skill, his current body is simply not fit enough to keep up. Obito never was terribly interested in training, while Kakashi's body was at the peak of fitness when he was this age.

Obito's breath leaves him in one blow as Kakashi's fist plows into his stomach. There's a crack - possibly the bone breaking, Kakashi can't remember if he'd have the strength to do that back then - as he kicks Obito's wrist; the kunai clatters away, nearly drowning out Obito's grunt of pain.

There are no tears in Obito's eyes, which more than anything convinces Kakashi that this is not that irritating, irrepressible boy - just as Kakashi is not the unyielding genius that he once was.


	4. 04: detente

Kakashi pins Obito easily, which is at least familiar. He can feel the Uchiha's muscles tensing as he tries to break free, and his attempts are much more skillful than they should be. It's his younger self's inattention to practice that is stopping him now.

He finally stills when Kakashi presses the kunai to his throat, hard enough to draw blood.

"Are you going to kill me, Kakashi?" Obito asks, a cruel little smile lurking at the edges of his mouth.

"If this is what I think it is, what's the point?" Kakashi retorts, eyes narrowing. "You'd just be able to bring yourself back... But you don't have the Sharingan now, do you?" he adds; the flash of fury in Obito's stubbornly dark eyes is confirmation enough.

"Why don't you try it and find out," Obito taunts.

"Why don't you tell me what's going on and I won't slit your belly wide open."

Obito's grin widens. "Daddy issues, much?"

Kakashi snarls and presses the kunai down harder. The spot of blood increases to a trickle; if Kakashi goes any further, there won't be any going back.

"This isn't right," Obito admits, but somehow it doesn't seem like Kakashi's threats are what is driving him to confess. "The world should have begun after this point. I wanted all of us to survive that mission."

Kakashi doesn't have to ask what mission he's referring to. "... That could still happen," he points out, not quite sure why he's trying to comfort him.

"Yeah, but you _remember_ ," Obito snaps. "And- this still isn't right. Kaa-san is dead. Your parents are dead. Everyone should be alive."

Kakashi frowns and slowly pulls his kunai back. Obito doesn't move, a bitter, unreadable look on his face. "So what happened, then?" he asks after a moment.

"I don't know!" Obito sounds frustrated and furious. "I should be able to manipulate any aspect of this world but- I can't. I just don't know."

"You swear that this isn't a genjutsu," Kakashi says.

"I swear!" Obito sounds annoyed now. "If it was, the moon would be red. We'll just have to wait until tonight to see if you really want confirmation."

"Hn. A truce, then." Kakashi waits until Obito grudgingly nods, then stands.

Obito remains prone on the floor, looking far too thoughtful.

"Get up, crybaby, we have a mission," he adds haughtily.

Something like amusement flashes across Obito's face. "I'm not crying," he says, but he does get up.

Kakashi follows him to the bathroom, then detours into the bedroom when he sees that Obito means to bandage the cut. From the way he's massaging his wrist, Kakashi assumes that it's not broken, simply bruised.

He picks up the shuriken he'd thrown a few minutes earlier, then starts packing Obito's bag as he waits for the Uchiha to come back.

"So what do you think this is, then?" he asks when Obito enters the room, his collar pulled up just so that the wrapping isn't immediately obvious. He goes back to checking Obito's spare pouch of weapons. As expected, they're not maintained all that well. Kakashi rolls his eyes and shoves them in an outer pocket on Obito's pack.

"... I don't know," Obito says, but it doesn't sound convincing.

"You're still a shitty liar," he remarks, but doesn't press the issue. He's not under any illusions of Obito's power; in the future (present?) Obito was (is? will be?) many times stronger than Kakashi. Even though Kakashi managed to get the upper hand this time, there's no guarantee he'll be able to repeat the feat; nor that Obito would be forthcoming, should Kakashi manage it.

"Oh, fuck you." There's no heat in the reply, though.

They finish packing in silence. 


	5. 05: reunion

"Oh, you're only twenty minutes late," Rin says, pleasantly surprised, when they show up at the main gates.

"Kakashi held me up," Obito says after a beat, and it's actually not a lie. The way he's staring at Rin, like he means to memorize her face, is kind of creepy, but neither of their teammates seem to notice or find it suspicious.

Maybe Kakashi's just lost his tolerance for Obito's puppy-ish crush on Rin in the intervening years. (Or maybe he cares enough to actually take notice of these things now that he can appreciate them.)

"... Were you two fighting?" Minato-sensei frowns at them, his gaze darting from Obito's neck to Kakashi's face.

He forgot about that cut, in the wake of what else had happened back at Obito's apartment. But it seems it doesn't matter, since Minato-sensei noticed Obito's wound as well.

"Nicked myself shaving," Obito says, which is a pretty outrageous lie. Kakashi's more than a little disconcerted to realize that he was seriously considering uttering the same line, even though he definitely wouldn't have been shaving at Obito's place... much less with his mask on.

"Slipped and fell," he says instead, which is clearly a better excuse.

"Really?" Rin says, sounding both disbelieving and disapproving. "You don't even have any peach fuzz, Obito. And you're never clumsy, Kakashi."

"Hey, maybe I was practicing!" Obito protests. It's also disconcerting how easy it is for Obito to slip into his younger persona; this chain of excuses could easily have been something he would've actually tried to claim.

"Everyone makes mistakes," Kakashi adds. On the other hand, it's pretty pathetic that an ex-ANBU is so abysmal at lying. But Kakashi never lied to his team, not back then.

"... Right, well, let's get going. And make sure these accidents don't happen again, boys," Minato-sensei says sternly.

"Shouldn't I heal them, sensei?" Rin asks.

"I'm sure they'll live. The pain might even teach them not to make the same mistakes again." Minato-sensei stares at them pointedly, then turns away and starts off at a brisk walk towards the gates.

Rin casts a worried glance at them, but follows a moment later. Kakashi looks at Obito, who stares back with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Let's go," Obito says, and jogs off to fall into step next to Rin. Kakashi follows.


	6. 06: contemplation

They're on an escort mission, as it turns out. Obito, in a not-unusual show of forgetfulness, asks Rin what the mission is about an hour after leaving the village. Minato-sensei and Rin both look surprised when Kakashi doesn't immediately jump in, but after a moment she answers.

The team is supposed to meet their client at the border between the Land of Fire and Grass Country. While a mission like this used to be entrusted to relatively new genin teams, Team Minato has been dispatched instead - signs of the growing tensions between the shinobi nations. It has yet to escalate to full out war, but Kakashi knows that Iwa is already mobilizing its force.

There's no way for him to tell Minato-sensei, because then he'd be forced to reveal the source of his knowledge - which he doesn't even know, to be honest. Kakashi's been toying with the idea that he's somehow returned to the past, but it doesn't make any sense.

He needs to find someone else who was still alive during the final battle - Naruto isn't born yet; Killer Bee is out of reach in the Land of Lightning; who knows where Madara is, if he's even still alive at this point... Which only leaves Gai.

Of course, he'll need to wait for tonight, to confirm what Obito told him. The facts up until now point to this _not_ being Obito's 'new world', but this could just be some sadistic game played out to punish Kakashi.

After all, he did more than just let Rin die.

Kakashi pushes those thoughts out of his mind and glances back at Obito, who seems quite content to chatter away at Rin. To be honest, if he hadn't been fighting with the other boy earlier this morning, he'd think that nothing was amiss. Obito looks as stupidly happy to see Rin as he always used to.

Well, this is the man who started a war to bring about an 'ideal world' after watching (Kakashi kill her) Rin die - it shouldn't be surprising that he wants nothing more than to bask in Rin's presence now that she is alive again (still).

If Kakashi's honest with himself - not a very common occurrence - he'd admit that hearing Obito and Rin talking is comforting, almost like they're back to being the team of an exceptional (but not legendary, not yet) man, children who have been trained to fight but have not yet fought a war.

Technically they still are that team, but Kakashi's not just going to let his guard down until he manages to figure out what's going on.

They stop for the night in a clearing off the road. They should arrive at the rendezvous point tomorrow morning, several hours before their designated pick up time, if all goes well. As far as Kakashi can remember, things do go well.

"Obito and I will take the first watch," he says, then tries not to wince at the imperious tone.

"Yeah, that's fine, I'm not tired anyway," Obito says, grinning.

Minato-sensei and Rin look pretty disturbed, but Kakashi supposes that him volunteering to take first watch is not unheard of. The strange thing is Obito agreeing with anything Kakashi says.

They probably need to work on their behaviour - while they don't have that many people that they are close to, there's still Rin and Minato-sensei, not to mention Obito's family. It's probably not a good idea to let them get too suspicious.

He can worry about that after he finds out whether or not this is a genjutsu though.


	7. 07: revelation

The first hour passes in silence as Kakashi waits for Minato-sensei and Rin to fall asleep. Rin slips under first, and towards the end of the hour Minato-sensei follows suit. Not exactly unusual, but Kakashi wonders if Minato-sensei expects anything to happen.

Obito shifts on the other side of the clearing, drawing Kakashi's attention. Seeing that he has it, the Uchiha jerks his chin towards the tallest tree nearby, then darts up it with barely a rustle of leaves to mark his passing.

Kakashi follows him up, landing lightly on a branch at roughly the same height as the one Obito has perched himself on. There's a faint breeze, but they're downwind of the clearing, so any sound they make shouldn't carry to their sleeping teammates.

"It's cloudy," Kakashi says after about five minutes. He'd thought Obito would be the first one to speak, but it seems the other boy (man) has no interest in breaking the silence.

Kakashi can't really make out Obito's expression in the dim light, but he seems to be frowning. "Yeah," he mutters.

"Do you want it to be red or not?"

Obito doesn't answer immediately, then says, "I don't know. Maybe. But this isn't the world I wanted, so I think... no, I don't want this to be it."

Kakashi grunts and settles himself against the tree trunk, straddling the branch. No point in wasting his pretty average chakra reserves balancing on this branch. "Well, I know what colour I want the moon to be," he says drily.

Obito snorts but doesn't otherwise reply.

They stare up at the dark sky in silence.

Then Obito goes, "Ah, it's-"

Kakashi stiffens as the clouds slip aside, revealing a round, red moon.

He draws his father's chakra blade and slams Obito up against the tree trunk, forcing his chin higher with the blade. "You lied-!"

The devastated look on Obito's face pulls Kakashi up short, as does the utter lack of resistance to his assault.

"This... Look again, it's just red, it's not reflecting the Sharingan," Obito says.

Kakashi doesn't lift the pressure on Obito's throat, but he does glance up. Obito seems to be telling the truth; the red is kind of washed out and tinged orange, not like the crimson of the Sharingan, too.

Just one of those random red moons, he supposes. It's a little embarrassing, but can Kakashi really be blamed for jumping to conclusions? He's been in a state of heightened tension all day.

"What the fuck is going on," he mutters, returning to his own branch a moment later.

"I don't know," Obito says, even though the question was obviously rhetorical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be two parts, splitting with the clouds parting to reveal the nice red moon, but it's a pretty bad cliffhanger even by my standards. Especially since it's not even the Sharingan-moon thing. That would just be cruel. And it's already a short chapter as is. You're welcome?


	8. 08: revelation 2

"We should talk to Gai," Kakashi says, near the end of their watch.

Obito grimaces. "Why," he mutters.

"He's the only one who was there that we can talk to right now?" Kakashi points out.

Obito straightens up, looking at Kakashi with something akin to excitement. "We could ask Madara!"

The first thought that comes to mind is, "... Madara's alive?" The second is that they should not go anywhere near that psychopath, but he decides not to voice that one yet. If Obito decides to go through with it, he can always tell Minato-sensei. Obito couldn't defeat Kakashi, he definitely won't be able to defeat their sensei as he is now.

"Yeah, but he's a really old man... Maybe it's not such a good idea, who knows what he'll do if we have to tell him what's going on," Obito muses.

"Let's stick with Gai for now," Kakashi suggests.

"I'll leave that to you then... Since you are his eternal rival, and all." Obito's looking away, up at the now-white moon that is directly above them. Kakashi can't see his expression, but Obito sounds far too amused for his tastes.

"You should probably come along. What if I lie about what he says?" he points out.

"You wouldn't lie to me," Obito says, "you just don't want to willingly go see that freak alone." Then his mouth actually drops open. To be fair, Kakashi's does a little bit too.

He definitely wasn't expecting what was essentially a vote of confidence.

"Well, that's true," he manages, because it is - both parts.

Obito doesn't reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't clear, the reason for the moon being red in the previous chapter is perfectly natural. The moon appears to be red when it first rises at night, but as it crosses the sky it becomes regular white again, which is what happened in this chapter. You can look up 'harvest moon' for an example of a 'red moon' occurring. :)


	9. 09: training

The mission goes off without a hitch.

Kakashi makes sure to check the moon every night, just in case; if Obito catches him doing so, he doesn't comment. The moon starts to wane, and Kakashi allows himself to relax, slightly.

They return to the village about a week later, and Kakashi starts hanging around what he knows to be Gai's favourite training field. Obito comes after him, but Kakashi thinks it's more because Obito doesn't know what to do with himself than it is out of distrust.

"We might as well train while we're waiting," Obito remarks.

Kakashi glances at him, then nods. "True," he agrees, not feeling the need to point out that, if Gai's not already here by eight in the morning, he's probably away on a mission. "You could use the improvement," he adds snidely.

Obito raises his eyebrows. "Oh, really? Then bring it on."

"Taijutsu only? Weapons or not?"

"Taijutsu only," Obito decides. "No weapons."

Kakashi nods and slips into a ready stance; Obito follows suit a moment later.

There's something comforting about sparring with Obito. It's not something he ever did outside of Minato-sensei ordering them to, and it was never much more than a one-sided battle that almost always ended with Kakashi beating Obito into the ground.

Now, they spar willingly, Obito putting up a good fight, even if his body is not in the peak of fitness as Kakashi's is.

Things are changing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shortest chapter yet... the next few will be longer, promise. ;)


	10. 10: rivalry

Obito and Kakashi show up at the same training ground for four days in a row before they catch Gai running laps on his hands one morning.

"Kakashi! My Eternal Rival!" Gai cries, hopping to his feet with ease.

"Hey, Gai." It's better not to show enthusiasm, but unfortunately Gai seems to take even a clearly bored reply as such.

"How are you this fine morning? Have you come to challenge me?"

"I'm great. And no. I just want to ask you something," Kakashi says quickly, before Gai can get any weird ideas.

Gai's eyes start to glisten with tears. And the only thing more pathetic than Obito crying was Gai crying. Kakashi blinks, wondering where that thought came from; Obito hasn't cried once since he woke up eleven again.

"I would be glad to answer any inquiry you have of me-!" Gai declares, sniffling manfully.

"Yeah, we were wondering if you remember anything about the war," Obito cuts in helpfully, before the waterworks can really get started.

Gai's glistening eyes switch from Kakashi to Obito and back again. "Which war?" he asks blankly.

Kakashi watches his face closely; he doesn't seem to be lying, and Kakashi knows Gai well enough to be able to tell if he were.

"Ah, it involved the bijuu-" Obito starts to explain, but Kakashi quickly elbows him in the side.

"Quiet," he hisses.

"The bijuu! Like the Hachibi? I did have a dream about that a couple of weeks ago!" Gai says, brightening. "But I don't really remember what happened. And it was just a dream, anyway."

"Oh, Kakashi probably told you about this game we're playing and that made you dream of it," Obito says, once again displaying his astonishing lying skills. Or lack thereof, as it were.

It's a good thing Gai's such a trusting fellow.

"Yeah, probably," Kakashi deadpans, shooting a glare at Obito. "We have a mission now, and someone probably shouldn't continue his habit of being late." He grabs Obito's arm and drags him off.

"I was unaware that you played games, my Eternal Rival! Perhaps next time you could invite me!" Gai bellows after them.

"Not likely," Kakashi mutters.

Obito snickers.

"And what are you laughing about?" Kakashi asks irritably. "What the hell was that? Why did you just blurt everything out?"

Obito digs his heels in, drawing Kakashi up short. "I didn't just blurt everything out. Wars involving bijuu? It's ridiculous enough that it can be passed off as a child's game," he says in a similar tone.

Kakashi grits his teeth. "That's not the point."

"What? What did I do that the great Copycat Kakashi doesn't approve of," Obito hisses.

"Stop mentioning things from- from then," Kakashi snaps.

"Tch. It was the fastest way, I didn't want him to start going on about youth or whatever," Obito insists.

Kakashi scowls. "Fine. But can we agree not to mention it again?"

"More importantly, shouldn't we be worried about the fact that he doesn't remember anything at all? He thinks what happened was a dream, and he doesn't even have a good idea of what happened!" Obito says.

"So? We both remember, it's fine," Kakashi says.

"Yeah but-" Obito breaks off, looking troubled.

" _What_ , crybaby?"

Obito stiffens, his face closing off completely. "Nothing. Didn't you say we were going to be late for the mission?"

Kakashi frowns at his retreating back, wondering when Obito had learned the importance of punctuality.


	11. 11: siblings

Yesterday, Obito had told Kakashi that he was going to be late for their daily training because he wanted to walk his younger sister to the Academy. She was just finishing her first year, and today was the day of her final exam. Understandably, she was nervous, which was why Obito wanted to take the time to walk her to class.

Kakashi can't really remember classes at the Academy, much less feeling nervous about any tests. The only exam he ever took that made him even a little nervous was the jounin exam. Which is coming up in a few months, again.

He wonders if he should take it or not. He'd been the one to push Minato-sensei into submitting his application; climbing the ranks as fast as possible, by any means necessary, is no longer an activity that appeals to him. (But he's been working so hard; what's the point of all the extra training he's been doing with the crybaby if he isn't planning to try for promotion?)

Kakashi pushes those thoughts out of his mind as he walks up the last flight of stairs. Obito's apartment is on the third floor, and since Minato-sensei is out with Kushina today, Kakashi figured he could tag along with Obito to walk his sister to school.

There's a young girl sitting against the wall beside the closed door to Obito's apartment when Kakashi enters the hallway.

Dark hair and eyes, pale skin, delicate features. Uchiha.

"Good morning!" he says brightly, ignoring the indistinct sounds of raised voices that filter through the door. She looks up at him, and Kakashi panics for a second because her eyes are glistening and he has never been good at dealing with tearful people (unless it's to mock them for it). "You must be Obito's imouto!" he continues, in a (hopefully not futile) attempt to lighten the atmosphere with forced cheer.

"Un," the girl whispers, pulling her small backpack closer to her side. She doesn't look very interested to see him. Aren't kids this age usually more outspoken?

"Do you know who I am..?" Kakashi asks, crouching beside her and spreading his hands in as unthreatening a manner as possible.

The girl studies him for a second, then ventures, "His asshole teammate?"

Kakashi stiffens. It figures that Obito would talk about him like that to his family. He probably spends his whole time complaining about how pathetic a shinobi he is, not realizing what a blessing it is to have a family-

The door jerks open violently and Obito stalks out. Kumiko perks up at the sight of her brother, though she does cast a worried glance through the doorway.

"Don't you walk away from me-"

"-Kumiko's final exam is today and I have to walk her to school," Obito snaps over his shoulder, slamming the door. His angry stalk halts when he catches sight of the two people just outside the apartment. More specifically, the person crouching beside his sister. "Oh, Kakashi."

"Obito," he replies, smiling. He decides to disregard the way Obito's eyes dart to the door, then move back to Kakashi and his sister. "I'm not late for our S-rank escort mission, am I?" he adds, standing.

Obito looks at him blankly.

"You have an S-rank mission today, aniki?" Kumiko says, pouting as she gets to her feet as well. "I can walk to school by myself, you can't be late for _that_ -"

"-no, we don't," Obito says, glaring at him.

"Ah? You said it was S-rank because of the identity of our client. It's not a dangerous mission but... it's very important that Uchiha Kumiko-san makes it to the Academy in time for her exam, isn't it?" Kakashi smiles.

"Hn. Why do you have to be an asshole about everything?" Obito asks, looking up at the ceiling like it might have the answers. Kakashi doesn't miss the way his lips twitch upwards though.

"So Kakashi-san is your asshole teammate!" Kumiko says brightly, her mood shifting with whiplash speed.

"Don't swear, Ko-chan," Obito says absently, just looking at Kakashi again.

His sister ignores him and presses her backpack into Kakashi's hands. "You can carry that, if I'm the client."

"As you wish," Kakashi says gravely, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

"And I want a piggyback," Kumiko adds, staring at her brother expectantly.

"And don't call Kakashi an asshole!" Obito adds belatedly, though he pulls her onto his back obediently anyway. "Only I'm allowed to call him that!"

Kumiko peers over Obito's shoulder at Kakashi as they start down the hall. "Do you have a nickname for aniki?"

"Hm..." Kakashi pretends to think for a moment. "Yes. Stupid idiot. And feel free to call him that too if you want, I really don't mind," he adds, smiling at the siblings.

"You're dead," Obito says.

"But the mission! Are you trying to sabotage this important mission, Obito!?" Kakashi presses a hand over his mouth in exaggerated disbelief.

"Yeah, stupid aniki, are you trying to sabotage the mission!?" Kumiko demands, pounding on his shoulder with one tiny fist. Kakashi decides that he likes her.

 _So. Dead_ , Obito mouths, his eyes narrowed.

But he doesn't look so furious anymore, and his posture has relaxed, so Kakashi just keeps smiling at him and pretends not to understand.

After they drop Kumiko off at the Academy, he tries to ask about the argument Obito and his father had been having earlier.

"It's none of your business," Obito says shortly.

Kakashi drops the subject.


	12. 12: forgetting

Kakashi doesn't notice it at first.

It takes Obito pointing it out by asking, "Why are you suddenly fighting _worse_?" before he realizes.

Remembers might be a better word, since it seems like this is the real thing, just in the past. At any rate, the recognition causes Kakashi to falter; Obito's fist slips past his guard and slams solidly into his cheek.

"Fuck," Kakashi says, actually flying back a good distance before he manages to get his feet under him. His mouth is already filling with blood, and the pain is quite a surprise; on the D- and C-rank missions that Team Minato has been taking, there isn't much chance for any injuries.

He pulls his mask down and spits out the blood, gently probing his cheek with his tongue. He can't remember the last time he bit himself taking a punch.

"Shit, sorry," Obito says, and he does look genuinely apologetic as he darts across the distance separating them.

 _Mercy is weakness_ , Kakashi thinks, then is appalled with himself. "I think I'm starting to forget," he says, after spitting out another mouthful of blood.

Obito's eyes widen. "What? But why-"

"I don't know. But- I've caught myself having thoughts that I would have had when I was this age. And now I'm slipping into that mindset without even noticing it."

Obito stares at him, speechless.

"... Are you not experiencing the same thing?" Kakashi asks. Fuck, if they both forget - how can they stop the mission to Kannabi Bridge from being a total disaster?

"No, I'm not," Obito says.

"At least one thing's turning out all right for once," Kakashi mutters, pulling his mask back up.

Obito's still staring at him.

"... What?" Kakashi frowns at him.

"... Nothing. Well, I've just never seen your face before, actually," Obito says, flashing a wide grin at him. It's just a distraction technique, to deflect away from his strange behaviour.

"Liar," Kakashi mutters, but lets it pass. "Let's go grab lunch, my mouth tastes disgusting."

"I'm serious. When did you ever show me your face?" Obito insists, falling into step beside him as they make their way back to the main part of Konoha.

"I don't think my face is reason enough to render you speechless," Kakashi says drily.

"You have to admit, it's a really nice face."

Kakashi isn't even going to grace that with a reply.

"You're not worried about me being the only one left with memories of- that time?" Obito asks a few minutes later.

Kakashi halts, sensing the sincerity behind the question. "Not particularly," he says, raising an eyebrow at Obito.

Obito stares back at him, like he's searching for something in Kakashi mostly-obscured face. After several long moments he turns away and continues towards the merchant district. "Let's get barbeque. My treat, since I did break your face earlier."

"You didn't _break_ my _face_ ," Kakashi says scathingly, catching up a moment later. "But you're right, you will be paying."

Obito scoffs.


	13. 13: complication

"I could do it right this time," Obito says around a mouthful of the snack he'd packed, and it might be endearingly obnoxious if his words didn't have such a potentially ominous meaning behind them.

All of their important conversations seem to take place on the training ground, but it's the only semi-private setting available to them. Between the two of them, they'd be able to sense if anyone was spying on them, and they don't have to worry as much about acting 'normally'.

Sometimes, though, Kakashi wishes that they could go somewhere indoors to discuss matters like this.

"Do _what_ right this time?" he asks carefully, setting his chopsticks down and placing the bento on the grass beside himself.

"Creating a new world. The Moon Eye Plan," Obito explains, but at least he swallowed his mouthful of food before speaking this time. Too bad his words are the absolute last thing Kakashi wants to hear.

"There's no need to, is there?" Kakashi points out, trying to stay reasonably calm instead of freaking out. His knowledge of future events is slipping away with increasing frequency. When he's gone, who will be around to talk Obito out of this if he fails now?

Obito shrugs and glances down at his half-eaten snack. "Kaa-san is still dead. Your parents are dead, too, Kakashi. If I created a new world-"

"If my parents had lived past my seventh birthday, I wouldn't be the person that I am today," Kakashi points out calmly.

"But don't you want a family? Don't you want to come home to a good meal and tell your parents stories about your day and not have to worry about whether you're meeting their expectations or-"

"Is this about you and your father, Obito?" Kakashi asks quietly.

"N-no, of course not-"

"Good, because then I'd have to point out that you were an S-ranked criminal in the future, and that your father is a career chuunin." Not that Kakashi thinks there's anything wrong with shinobi who stop rising after achieving the rank of chuunin.

"That's not what I- Look, why don't you understand?" Obito demands, starting to get angry now. "Just because you don't have memories of what a happy family is like-"

" _Don't pretend that you know anything about me_ ," Kakashi hisses, suddenly furious. "So your mom died when you were younger? Well I never even got the chance to meet my mom! You're a failure, crybaby, but at least that's your own fault. You don't know what it's like to walk through the village and hear people whispering about _how sad_ it is, and what a _waste_ it is and _oh isn't that the traitor's son_!"

"Don't you understand, in my new world, everyone would be happy!" Obito shouts, his face darkening with the force of his anger.

" _But it would all be a lie_ ," Kakashi snarls back, abruptly aware that his younger self had come to the fore just then. But he isn't going to let this point go . "So you have an illusion of them. Maybe it feels real to you. Maybe it even makes you feel happy. But that doesn't change the fact that Rin or your mom or Kumiko would be lying dead and cold in the ground, unable to experience any of your false happiness. Your new world would only be a comfort for your own lonely, pathetic existence!"

Obito flinches, looking genuinely stricken by Kakashi's words.

For what it's worth, Kakashi struggles not to do the same. He didn't want to create more tension in their already tenuous alliance - and now he's blurted out all the things he's been thinking. He's long past wanting to use words to inflict pain on Obito (except for the part where that side of himself is coming around with increasing regularity) and insulting the goal that Obito has bent the majority of his life towards achieving is hardly conducive to keeping their relationship civil.

"I- I have to go. Kumiko is probably back from the Academy. I'll see you tomorrow," Obito says, his voice sounding as dead as the look in his eyes. Never mind that it's the middle of the afternoon and classes don't end before the early evening.

"Yeah," Kakashi says, "see you tomorrow." He doesn't know if Obito hears him, because the Uchiha has already run off, snack forgotten.

Kakashi's not really hungry either. He lets Obito go, fighting back the part of himself that sneers _running away like always_. It's getting harder and harder every day.


	14. 14: irresolution

Kakashi sits at his desk, pen in hand. The scroll lying before him is blank, just waiting for Kakashi to put words to it. It's a long scroll, certainly long enough for Kakashi to record a (greatly abbreviated) version of the events that have transpired (have yet to transpire?).

But he doesn't.

The errant thoughts and sudden deadening of emotions that he has been experiencing are starting to coalesce into another consciousness. More specifically, eleven/twelve year old Kakashi is re-emerging from the ether, but he seems to have no awareness of elder Kakashi's existence or memories.

Is it really Kakashi's right to try to steal his younger counterpart's life? Should he even be writing anything down at all? It's an attempt to influence Kakashi junior to not be such an unyielding asshole, but who knows what his younger self will do with it.

Without putting _something_ about Obito's actions, how can he convey how important it is that young Kakashi continue to interact positively with his much-disdained teammate?

But if Kakashi does write about that, he knows his younger self would, at best, dismiss it as one of Obito's stupid pranks. At worst, he'd take it completely seriously and bring the knowledge of Obito's (future) actions to the authorities.

Neither alternative is particularly attractive.

Kakashi stares at the blank scroll before him, the pen held forgotten in his fingers. The same thoughts chase themselves around in his head, temporarily keeping his younger counterpart at bay - but he can find no suitable resolution either.


	15. 15: genealogy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking liberties concerning Obito's Mangekyou Sharingan abilities here. Potentially ridiculous/confusing explanations concerning ancient Uchiha history and the reasons why Sasuke/Itachi/Madara can use Tsukuyomi/Amaterasu/Susanoo and why Shisui and Obito seem to get different sets of techniques. Please suspend disbelief (more than usual)..? :D

Sitting at a suitable distance away from Minato-sensei and Rin to discuss things on their shift of watch has become something of a tradition, not quite as regular as their training sessions, but almost.

"My mother was from a cadet branch of the Uchiha clan," Obito tells him this night.

Kakashi tilts his head to the side. "Really?" He knows that Obito has been looking through the clan's archives, which explains how he came across this knowledge. Though, as far as Kakashi had known, the Uchiha weren't particularly concerned about main and cadet branches as, say, the Hyuuga. The clan head was descended from Uchiha Madara, and had been since just after the founding of Konoha, but other than that... Given the nature of the Sharingan, just about any member could rise to prominence.

Assuming, of course, that they managed to activate the kekkei genkai at all.

The point being, Kakashi hadn't considered that Obito's ancestry was of any particular importance.

"Yeah. Madara or Izuna killed my great-grandfather to unlock the Mangekyou. He was their first cousin."

Kakashi winces. "Ah..."

"Shisui's descended from another cadet branch," Obito adds. "I assume his great-grandmother was killed by one of her two older cousins as well."

Kakashi frowns. He doesn't know much about Shisui. After the massacre, it was decided that Itachi must have killed the other prodigy too, but that's all. The mirroring of Madara's actions and those of his direct descendant's are... disturbing, to say the least.

"Madara and Izuna's line - the 'main line' - have the ability to use Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and Susanoo. That's what the sacred clan texts say, and since only descendants from Madara's line were documented as having unlocked the Mangekyou, it was incorrectly assumed that those three techniques were linked to all Mangekyou."

"... In other words, Kamui is the technique that an Uchiha from your branch unlocks when they activate their Mangekyou?" Kakashi asks slowly.

"Exactly," Obito agrees. "You probably aren't aware, but Shisui's Mangekyou gave him the ability to use Kotoamatsukami, which can be regarded as the ultimate genjutsu. It can implant false experiences into another's mind, without leaving any trace. It's nothing like Tsukuyomi."

Kakashi raises his eyebrows. "I see... It's much more dangerous than Tsukuyomi."

"Mm. I don't know what technique he would have were he to use both eyes - Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi are governed by one eye, while Susanoo is a technique that uses both, so it follows that other Mangekyou should have three unique techniques as well - but I'm sure it would have been powerful."

"Is powerful," Kakashi corrects mildly. Shisui is (still) alive, after all, along with the rest of the Uchiha clan.

"... Yes," Obito acknowledges. "I don't know the circumstances around Shisui activating his Mangekyou. Maybe this time around, it won't happen."

"Things are proceeding as they did the first time we were this age, though."

"It's been less than three months," Obito points out. "Things will diverge when we do the Kannabi mission right, surely."

"Yeah. So, wait, before I derailed the conversation... were you going to tell me that Kamui is the reason we got sent back?"

"I think it is. Your eye governed space at a distance, while my eye governed the space of anything I could touch. Does it seem so far-fetched that, together, they would create a technique that governs time?"

Kakashi supposes it doesn't. "But how did we manage to activate this technique?"

"... Intent?" Obito muses. "I was so furious the first time I used Kamui... It took me a long time to learn how to use it consciously."

"We both would have had the same intent, then," Kakashi remarks. Regret, perhaps? The omnipresent desire to go back in time and fix all the stupid mistakes he'd made? Had Obito been feeling something similar?

He must have been.

(Kakashi tries not to think about how, with his memories disappearing more and more often, fixing things seems to be a goal that moves further away with each day.)

Obito nods, but doesn't immediately reply. "I don't know why we got sent back to that day, though. Just before a run of the mill escort mission..." he says at length, but it's more like he's thinking aloud than actually expecting Kakashi to reply.

"It does seem like a random date. But it's early enough to fix what happens in Grass, without having to wait years for the chance," Kakashi points out anyway. "We're not kids, either, even if we're not quite adults yet. I don't think we could ask for much more."

Obito nods again, but he still seems troubled.


	16. 16: inevitable

Rin and Minato-sensei are looking at him strangely again.

Kakashi suppresses his annoyance - first they don't like him trying to be _nice_ to Obito, and now they're annoyed that he's being cold to Obito again?

Ridiculous, absolutely-

Kakashi tries not to flinch, worry and regret flaring through him. He understands, perhaps less perfectly than others, what motivated his younger self to treat Obito so coolly - but that doesn't mean he has to like it.

Obito looks at him knowingly, but doesn't say anything in front of their teammates.

"It's going to be soon, isn't it," Obito says in an undertone a few moments later, apropos nothing.

Kakashi grunts. It's been more than a day since his older personality was at the forefront. "Yeah. I wish it wasn't happening at all but-"

Obito nods, like something has been decided. "I get it. As much as I can, given the circumstances." A grin, not at all sincere, but a passable imitation of his younger self's infectious smile.

"Hn." Kakashi stalks further ahead; he has no time for the useless smiles of air-headed idiots.


	17. 17: apology

"I'm sorry," Kakashi says, after he catches his breath. He and Obito are lying side by side in the middle of a training ground after another spar. He doesn't want to look at Obito, doesn't want to see his reaction, so Kakashi stares up at the cloudy sky instead.

He sees Obito turns his head out of the corner of his eye, but at this angle he can't discern the Uchiha's expression. It's probably better that way.

"What for?" Obito asks.

Kakashi shrugs, then winces as a bruise that Obito had made earlier twinges in protest. "I feel like I'm leaving you behind." Obito opens his mouth immediately, but Kakashi pushes on - he might not get another chance to say this, and he doesn't want to waste it. "Again."

He hears Obito inhale sharply, catches the motion of Obito turning his head to regard the sky.

"I didn't blame you... for that," he says.

Kakashi doesn't look. He focuses his gaze on a cloud floating lazily across the sky and resolutely ignores the urge to glance at Obito's face to gauge his sincerity. He glares at the white wisp, resenting it for how carefree it seems; the atmosphere could at least have the decency to suit the tone of their conversation. "But how many times did I leave you behind before that? I'm already starting to again-"

"-that's not you, that's asshole you," Obito interrupts.

"-when my memories go away. I know they'll go away completely and I don't- I don't want to leave you. I don't want to go." It's not that he's worried about what Obito will do when he's the last person who can remember the events of the fourth war - well, it is, but he's not worried that Obito will set those events into motion again. Kakashi knows how shitty it is to have thirty years worth of knowledge in an eleven (twelve in Obito's case, same difference) year old body; to face that alone? He can't imagine it.

Another part of himself is worried about himself; where will his thirty year old persona go, after his eleven year old self regains completely control? Will that life simply disappear, perhaps to be repeated again, hopefully to be averted by Obito's efforts... Is it possible to die if another version of yourself is still around?

Kakashi tries not to think about it, but more and more during the increasingly brief periods when he retains control, these morbid thoughts plague him. He feels like there's a sword hanging above his head, and the worst part is he won't even realize when it falls. He's become constantly tense and short, his performance during their spars worsening because he's so distracted.

"Hey, you came back, that time," Obito says.

"But I shouldn't have left at all." Kakashi bites his tongue to stop from voicing all the regrets, all the ways various scenarios have played out as he imagines his younger self going with Obito to save Rin, rather than pushing on in an attempt to complete the mission. "... And I don't know if there'll be any coming back, this time," he confesses, barely more than a whisper.

"I don't want you to go either," Obito says. "But I can't see any way to let you stay." He sits up, resting his chin against his knees. "I'll keep looking, though."

The tightness in Kakashi's chest loosens.

"If there's a way, I'm sure you'll find it," he says quietly.


	18. 18: disappearance

One morning, Obito grabs his shoulder on their way out of the village for their next mission.

"Did you check the moon last night?" he asks.

Kakashi looks at him flatly. "Why," he deadpans. "Shinobi have better things to do than stare at the sky."

Obito looks pained, which just proves what a pathetic excuse for a chuunin he is; what Kakashi said to him wasn't even that cruel, and certainly nowhere near the worst of what he's said to the dead last in the past.

"We're still training after the mission today, right?" he perseveres, and if Kakashi allowed himself to feel emotions he'd probably be surprised that Obito hasn't risen to the taunt.

"Of course, so don't think you can get out of it," Kakashi says, turning on his heel. "And don't be late."

"Yeah, well I could say the same to you!" Obito yells at his retreating back, just like Kakashi expected.

It's only after he's left Obito behind that Kakashi realizes how strange it is that they should be training together - and that Kakashi himself was the one to offer, no less. It's true that the dead last needs to improve, but the thought of helping bring about that improvement (beyond offering encouragement via ruthless taunts) never even occurred to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things may look grim now, but I hope you'll stick with the fic. ;)


	19. 19: perseverance

There's a kind of leashed desperation to Obito's sudden interest in training. Kakashi's waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the dead last to whine about how hard it is and stop showing up.

Obito doesn't; if anything, Kakashi's taunts seem to spur him on to do _better_ \- the margin between Kakashi and Obito's speed, reaction time and accuracy is steadily decreasing. While this is what Kakashi told himself his sometimes cruel words were for, he... wasn't actually expecting them to accomplish their task.

Yet here they are, months later. The jounin exam is approaching, and Kakashi would have used that excuse to get out of training with Obito... except for the fact that their sparring is as much a benefit to himself as it is to the Uchiha.

Kakashi doesn't know where this determination came from, or what possessed him to offer to train with the crybaby in the first place but... At this rate, he'll have to think up new insults. Obito hasn't cried once, and his rapidly improving skills put lie to the moniker of 'dead last'.

"Why are you training so hard?" he asks one afternoon, trembling faintly with fatigue. The only reason he hasn't called a rest or ended the session altogether is because _Obito_ is still going. What kind of genius would he be if a loser outlasted him?

Obito pauses, darting a short distance away. His stance was passable before, but now it's precise, flawless - exactly how Kakashi imagines his own. He must still be clumsy, though, because Kakashi has caught sight of bruises in the oddest places, not somewhere that their training would leave them.

After a moment of catching his breath, Obito says, "I have to unlock my Sharingan."

Kakashi allows himself to sneer, the expression largely hidden by his omnipresent mask. "You think activating your Sharingan is going to solve all your problems."

"You have no idea," Obito says calmly, for once not jumping to vehement defense of his clan against slights (imagined or real).

Kakashi doesn't have time to reply as Obito launches himself forward again.


	20. 20: speculation

"It's odd," Rin remarks, swinging her legs back and forth beneath the ramen stand's counter.

Kakashi glances at her, then returns to his ramen. He hasn't quite perfected the trick of eating without showing his company his face, but he's getting there. "What is."

"Usually Obito jumps at the chance for free ramen when Minato-sensei offers, and he really likes Kushina-san. But today he passed," Rin explains thoughtfully.

Kakashi grunts, casting a glance at Minato-sensei and Kushina-san sitting on her other side, talking. Kushina-san and Obito have rather similar personalities, and seem to get on very well. So Kakashi had also found it strange that Obito declined. He just hadn't considered it important and had dismissed the observation a moment later. What Obito does with his time is of no concern to him, so long as it doesn't impede on their training together.

"And he's spending so much time training or researching... That's not like him," Rin adds, looking troubled.

"Maybe he's turned over a new leaf," Kakashi deadpans.

"Maybe," Rin says, but doesn't look convinced.

Kakashi wants to ask her why she cares, but then Rin will just look _disappointed_ in him, and if there's one thing he can't stand, it's disappointment. "It's good for him to improve, that way he has a better chance of surviving," he remarks, because it seems like Rin is waiting for him to say _something_.

Rin sighs. "That's true but... haven't you noticed anything different?" At Kakashi's blank look, she continues, "Both of you have been acting so strange lately! It's just that Obito's more obvious about it..." She frowns at Kakashi, like that will make him explain it to her.

Except there's nothing going on, so there isn't anything for him to say. "... He does cry less," Kakashi offers.

Rin's face falls. "That's not exactly what I meant, Kakashi."

Thoroughly tired with this conversation - honestly, why the sudden interest in that crybaby? - Kakashi just grunts in reply before finishing the broth at the bottom of the bowl. "Thanks for the meal, sensei," he says, hopping off the stool

"See you, Kakashi," Minato says, but he's mostly distracted by his conversation with Kushina.

"Later, Kakashi," Rin says quietly, distractedly.

"Later." Kakashi walks away.


	21. 21: nerves

Kakashi doesn't have many memories of taking his final exam to graduate from the Academy, but it can't have been too strenuous. Otherwise he would have remembered, wouldn't he?

(Maybe he can't really remember because he tries not to think about that time, when tou-san was still-

No, stop.)

The chuunin exam was just as forgettable. Konoha - and pretty much every other hidden village - was in a critically weak state. There was no time to coddle children, because the ranks were so thin that even immature soldiers were better than nothing. The exams were designed to weed out the utterly hopeless, rather than select the few genuinely ready for promotion; a genius like Kakashi failing such an exam was never even an option.

But this jounin exam - this is important. Kakashi's appetite disappears, although he mechanically forces himself to eat anyway - he needs to keep his strength up, even if his stomach churns with unease. Chuunin and genin are the foot soldiers of shinobi forces; jounin are commanders. Unlike his previous promotion exams, this one will challenge Kakashi to his limits.

"Not hungry, Kakashi?" Minato-sensei asks, interrupting Kakashi's thoughts. He's smiling gently.

Sometimes, Kakashi hates being treated like a child. His bowl of cereal is only half-finished, and now completely soggy because of his dawdling. He eats another spoonful anyway. "Just thinking," he says.

"Nervous?" the jounin asks sympathetically.

"No," Kakashi lies, doggedly taking another mouthful.

Minato-sensei doesn't look convinced, but he doesn't say anything more about it. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

Kakashi grunts in acknowledgement but doesn't reply. Something in his chest loosens though, and even if Minato-sensei is just saying that because that's what teachers are supposed to tell their students, Kakashi maybe doesn't mind being treated like a kid this time.


	22. 22: mission: start

He passes, of course. Afterwards, it seems stupid to have felt anxious about the exam - just more proof that emotions are ultimately meaningless to shinobi.

That resolution still doesn't stop him from being unexpectedly angry (and hurt) that Obito doesn't get him a gift for earning the jounin promotion, because he thought-

Well, whatever he thought he knew was clearly stupid and wrong. This is why shinobi don't form attachments to (their teammates) anyone, because their expectations are inevitably dashed by reality.

Minato-sensei puts him in charge of the mission to destroy Kannabi bridge, but Kakashi finds that this doesn't improve his shitty mood in the slightest.

He's upset that Obito forgot to get him a gift, and the fact that Obito's thoughtlessness upsets him only serves to make Kakashi _more_ disgruntled. It's a vicious cycle, but Kakashi ignores it because the mission is more important than some stupid feelings that he thought he'd eradicated.

This just proves that he has to keep working harder; although he's made jounin, there will always be room for improvement.

Minato and Rin are looking worried again, which only serves to make Kakashi more furious.

He assumes command of their team and nearly takes out all of the Iwa scout's clones with his newly-perfected Chidori, but Minato-sensei jumps in like always to save his student's life.

Kakashi hates being treated like a child.

Obito doesn't say anything about Kakashi's mistake, which is a surprise. In fact, the Uchiha watches Rin heal Kakashi's shoulder with a frown on his face - but his eyes are distracted, deep in thought.

Kakashi looks away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm. Things are still turning out the same. Is this really going to be ok..? :D /shot


	23. 23: divergence

They move deeper into Grass country, and then Minato-sensei tells them it's time to split up.

"Let's get going, commander," Obito says, an olive branch extended for Kakashi to take.

"Right! Let's go!" Minato-sensei agrees, and the members of Team Minato scatter.

They pass a few traps along the way, but there are no further signs of Iwa nin until they reach the river.

Incongruously, Obito seems to become more and more tense the further they venture into the country. It seems that with every step they take, he moves closer to Rin, until they're practically on top of each other. He's almost vibrating with tension when they step onto the river.

Kakashi can't sense anything but-

There.

(But how did Obito sense the enemy's presence before Kakashi did?)

Obito incinerates the bamboo spears with a katon before they reach the trio, and then Kakashi is distracted by an Iwa nin attacking.

He spares a glance at Obito and Rin, who seem to be fending off another opponent. He switches his attention fully to the man in front of him and loses the ability to focus on anything else.

The man is _fast_. Kakashi is hard-pressed to block the strikes of those twin blades with his chakra sabre, but as long as Obito and Rin take care of their assailant-

"Kakashi!" Rin shrieks, just before something slams into the back of his head and then-

Darkness.


	24. r1: confusion

"They took Kakashi!" Rin says, disbelieving, incredulous. Silence greets her pronouncement. It seems so- it just doesn't make sense. Of the three of them, Kakashi is not the easy target.

But Obito had fended off the other Iwa nin with surprising proficiency, despite the man's camouflage technique. Was that the result of his training with Kakashi? But how could there have been such a marked improvement..? It's only been a few months, hasn't it?

Rin watches Obito swim to the surface, Kakashi's chakra sabre clutched in one hand. He climbs up onto the river, shaking his head to dispel as much water from his hair as possible. Rin barely notices the cold droplets hitting her, too stunned for words.

"We have to go after them," Obito says, slicking a hand through his soaking hair. His utter calm cuts through Rin's panic.

"They _took_ Kakashi!" she repeats, because it does bear repeating, and he didn't even hear the first time.

"I know, and we have to go after them!" Obito insists. "Come on, Rin. Kakashi's a stubborn asshole, he's not going to give up any information easily. He'll probably piss them off and then- then- we have to go after them!"

Rin takes in Obito's wide eyes, the faint confusion in them. He's become better at hiding what he's feeling, and he hasn't cried for quite a while. But he's not as calm as she first thought, either - he's just hiding his worry a little better than she is.

"Yeah. Right. We have to go after them," Rin agrees. Questions can come later. Now, they have to get Kakashi back.

"Take this," Obito says, passing her the chakra sabre. "You can probably make better use of it than I can."

Rin accepts the blade numbly, tucking it into her weapon pouch. The handle sticks out the side, but she supposes it'll be easier to access like that.

"This way," Obito says brusquely. "I'll take point."

Rin doesn't protest, falling into step behind him as they leave the river behind. The bridge will still be there when they get Kakashi back.


	25. r2: activation

"We're here," Obito whispers, halting on a high branch. He gestures at the cave below them when she opens her mouth to ask him how he knows. "Get ready for a fight."  
  
"They might not have noticed us yet," Rin argues, but she pulls out a kunai anyway. A fight is inevitable if they want to get Kakashi back quickly. She tries not to think about the odds of two chuunin taking on two jounin.  
  
"We don't know if that invisible guy is around or not," Obito points out quietly.  
  
A cry of pain echoes out of the cave, masculine and young - obviously Kakashi.  
  
Rin's breath catches, her hand tightening around the hilt of her kunai.  
  
"Stay calm," Obito whispers. "We can do this."  
  
"Right... Let's go!" Rin agrees, preparing to spring down.  
  
"To where?" the invisible jounin asks from behind them.  
  
Rin gasps, spinning around to face their opponent.  
  
But Obito's already there. He throws himself in front of her, his kunai slicing through the Iwa shinobi's flak vest.  
  
Cursing, the man throws himself away, becoming visible as he lands in the tree next to them. The wound is shallow, non-fatal. The jounin can still fight.  
  
Rin trembles, a traitorous voice pointing out that Kakashi and Minato-sensei aren't here to step in and save them when they make a mistake. It's just her and Obito, the medic and the Uchiha failure.  
  
But she's not just a medic, she knows how to fight, and Obito has proven more than once over the past few months that he's improving, steadily catching up to Kakashi's level.  
  
"Heh. What's with that angry face, little boy?" the jounin taunts, apparently having recovered from the pain of the cut already. "Do you really think you can beat me..? Just for that, I'll save you for last. You'll have a better chance that way, right?" His smile is cruel, and he dodges the handful of shuriken that Obito throws his way, fingers flashing through hand signs too quickly for Rin to follow.  
  
He disappears before Rin or Obito can try to attack again.  
  
Where is he? Rin scans their surroundings, trying to keep her breathing level and calm.  
  
A soft sound, the sole of a sandal striking the branch behind them. Rin ducks instinctively, spinning into a crouch. She feels her kunai slice into something, just as Obito throws himself back. Not fast enough: blood pours out of the wound, revealing the white of bone beneath it - but the jounin's strike missed Obito's eye, and Rin managed to deal a deep cut to the man's leg.  
  
"Fuck," Obito swears, one hand rising in an aborted movement to press against the wound, but he thinks better of it and narrows his eyes.  
  
At first Rin thinks that her mind is playing tricks on her, but no, Obito's eyes are red as the blood leaking down his left cheek.  
  
"Finally," Obito snarls, pushing off from the branch with more speed than Rin knew he possessed.  
  
The jounin doesn't stand a chance after that, and Obito returns a few moments later, bloody kunai in one hand, the other pressed against the cut on his face.  
  
Rin tries not to stare at the three tomoe spinning in each eye. Do Uchiha usually activate fully-formed Sharingan? Obito's a bit of a late bloomer, but still- and he just killed a man without hesitating. Shinobi aren't supposed to show mercy, but the sensitive boy that she knows surely would have shown some remorse-  
  
"Rin. Are you hurt?" he asks, kneeling beside her. When she shakes her head, he adds, "Heal this as quick as you can, then, and we can go after Kakashi."


	26. r3: rescue

Kakashi's lying at the back of the cave when they reach him. It seems that the Iwa nin had resorted to brute force to get information out of Kakashi. The dark-haired Iwa shinobi seems to be trying to rouse Kakashi, but he remains unconscious.  
  
Rin purposely doesn't consider the possibility that Kakashi could be dead.  
  
"Tch." The man drops Kakashi's limp body to the ground and stands slowly, almost lazily, like two teenagers are no threat to him.  
  
(If Rin thinks about it, she would have said that they wouldn't have been, if she hadn't witnessed Obito brutally taking down the other jounin moments earlier.)  
  
"Everyone's useless," the jounin remarks, annoyed. "But I guess you're no ordinary brats either-"  
  
Obito's already on him, his movements keeping up with - no, surpassing - the jounin's frantic defenses. The expression on his face is like none that Rin has ever seen before; murderous is the only word she can think of to describe it.  
  
It's over in mere moments, ending with Obito's kunai slicing through the jounin's throat. Obito dodges away from the spray of blood and, after glancing at Rin, kneels down beside Kakashi.  
  
The look of relief on Obito's face when he presses his fingers against Kakashi's neck and finds a pulse is as incongruous as his deadly expression earlier.  
  
"It looks like he just hit his head. Do you think he has a concussion?" Obito asks, moving back so Rin has more room to work. She steps around the growing pool of blood spreading from the jounin's body and joins him.  
  
A cursory examination reveals the most severe injury are the broken fingers of Kakashi's left hand. His head is bruised but there aren't any signs of a concussion. The rest of his body is covered in bruises, but nothing else is broken. It could be worse - much worse.  
  
"No concussion," she reports. "But I think it would be faster to heal his fingers while he's still unconscious-"  
  
"Rin, I want you to trade mine and Kakashi's left eyes," Obito says.  
  
Rin stares at him like he's gone insane. Kakashi's left eye is fine. She needs to fix his hand and heal the bruise on his head, maybe some of the deeper bruising on his torso, not-  
  
"I didn't get him a gift for making jounin, did I?" Obito adds, after she doesn't answer. "Come on, Rin. A Sharingan's not a bad promotion gift, right?"  
  
"But it's yours," Rin blurts out stupidly. Obito has dedicated so much time to activating his precious Sharingan, and now he wants to just give one away? To Kakashi no less... The two boys have been closer lately, but certainly not this close-?!  
  
"You can do it, right?" Obito says. "Please, Rin. It's what I want."  
  
Rin's still totally caught off guard. Where are the fumbling attempts to garner her favour? If she thinks about it, Obito hasn't been tripping over himself to spend time with her like he used to. He still spends most of their missions at her side, but he's stopped asking her to go out with him for lunch or dinner or a movie almost daily.  
  
Something is up with Obito and Kakashi and she has no idea what it is. She's overheard snatches of conversation when Obito and Kakashi take watch, but nothing concrete, nothing that makes any sort of sense.  
  
"I'll do it," she says, and Obito grins. It's so incongruous for her goofy teammate to be smiling with his Sharingan finally activated, in the middle of a cave that stinks of blood. Obito hates killing. Or she thought he did, at any rate. "On one condition," she adds, narrowing her eyes.  
  
Obito's grin dims, but doesn't entirely disappear. A strange expression passes across his face, too fast for her to decipher. "Great, what is it?"  
  
"You tell me what's going on with you and Kakashi. You have to promise to explain everything, Obito."  
  
Obito blinks, then slouches forward with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, that's- I guess that's fair."  
  
Rin stares him down.  
  
"I promise!" He raises his hands, and he almost has that familiar 'what more do you want from me?' look on his face, but his eyes don't match. It's not just because they're red, either. "After we get back to Konoha though, ok? I don't- outside of the village isn't a good place to talk." He glances around the dimly lit cave. "Now can we please get this over with?"  
  
Rin nods, allowing her medical training to take over as she methodically begins preparing for the transplants. Inside, though, she's reeling. So she hasn't been imagining their strange behaviour. Obito as good as admitted that something's up with him and Kakashi - and it must be something important, otherwise why would he have stipulated returning to the village..?  
  
She takes a deep breath, gazing down at her two teammates, and pushes those thoughts aside. There'll be time for speculation later; right now she has a job to do.


	27. 24: awakening 2

Kakashi (remembers everything - the deaths of his teammates, his spiral into ANBU, the slow climb back out, the only genin team he ever passed, the events leading up to and during the fourth war) wakes up.

His vision is uneven; it's not an unfamiliar experience, but not something that he's felt lately either. It takes him a moment to notice the two teammates hovering over him nervously.

Obito looks equal parts relieved and anxious. Rin's relief is reserved, tempered by- something. Kakashi's too out of sorts, his thoughts too jumbled to figure it out right now. Memories are slotting themselves back in place, and he finds himself wondering if it's murder if the body was- will be- is technically yours.

"Your eyes don't match," he tells Obito, his voice surprisingly hoarse. Must be from- the Iwa jounin beating him for information. But Kakashi doesn't hurt as much as he probably should - Rin must have healed the worst of the injuries that were inflicted while he was unconscious. "Did you steal my eye, loser?" he adds.

"He gave you one of his Sharingan, Kakashi!" Rin says, frowning.

"Yeah, so be grateful, asshole," Obito adds, still looking torn.

"At least we came out of this with two full sets of eyes between us this time," Kakashi says.

Obito grins, relaxing. "No thanks to you getting yourself captured," he jeers.

Rin looks lost by the sudden change in atmosphere. "What-"

Kakashi's Sharingan catches a too-familiar chakra signature rising out of the ground just behind them. He stumbles to his feet, half-remembered bruises aching in protest, and jams a kunai into the clone's eye socket.

It slumps over, still half-stuck in the ground.

"Who is that?" Rin asks, eyes wide.

"A Zetsu," Kakashi and Obito answer at the same time. They exchange glances.

"If a Zetsu clone's here then-" Kakashi says, just as the wall of the cave explodes.

Kakashi summons a wall of earth, blocking the worst of the shrapnel, then lets it sink back into the ground.

"Madara," Obito breathes as the dust settles.

"Well, not quite," a cold voice drawls. Zetsu clones pour out of the opening, quickly forming a semi-circle around the three Konoha shinobi. Behind them, a black and white Zetsu stands calmly, a Sharingan spinning out of the dark side of its face. "But I'm glad to hear you remember me, Obito."


	28. 25: betrayal

"You don't look nearly as pleased to see me as I am you," the black and white Zetsu remarks, slowly advancing. Kakashi realizes that the black half of the body is doing the speaking.

"I wonder why-" The words die in Kakashi's throat as the Zetsu's Sharingan locks on to his; the killing intent is suddenly overwhelming, and his legs tremble. He locks his knees, remaining upright through sheer force of will. Rin drops to her knees, gasping.

"What are you doing?" Obito demands, the only one of them seemingly unfazed.

Black Zetsu turns to the Uchiha, and the pressure bearing down on Kakashi lessens. "Kill the boy; bring Obito and the girl to me," he says, addressing the clones.

"If you touch either of them-!" Obito snarls.

"Come, Obito. We'll kill that thief, you'll get the girl, and we can advance our plan unhindered," Black Zetsu says reasonably, making no move to call the advancing clones off.

"No," Obito snaps, incinerating the nearest clones with a swift katon.

Kakashi darts over to Rin, confident that Obito will be able to protect himself, especially if the clones aren't trying to kill him.

His knowledge of Zetsu is limited; he knows that the one confronting them was an active member of Akatsuki in the future, but it didn't have the Sharingan then. Given its reaction to being called Madara, Kakashi can only assume that the black half some represents the ancient Uchiha. It would explain the split personality...

"Foolish brat," Black Zetsu sneers, dropping pretenses. "Separate them. Kill the boy first, and bring Obito to me. If you won't come willingly, I'll take you by force."

"Like hell you will!" Obito snarls. Another katon burns through the clones and then Obito launches himself at the leader. Black Zetsu blocks the attack with a doton jutsu, an earthen pillar rising to intercept.

Obito dodges, disappearing from Kakashi's sight behind the line of advancing clones. He casts a final glance at the rising battle, but the clones press in. He has no way to reach them.

The Zetsu clones - though immature and weak compared to the ones the Allied Shinobi Forces fight in the future - are still a serious problem, simply because there are so many of them. Kakashi slashes his way through them, but there are too many.

He loses track of Rin in the press; the clones have taken Black Zetsu's latest directive to heart and are focussing all their efforts on Kakashi. His kunai is hardly an ideal weapon when his opponents have the advantage in reach and numbers, but he can hold the clones off well enough.

He catches glimpses of Obito and Black Zetsu locked in combat between the mass of bodies, but he _can't get through these fucking clones_.

Kakashi pushes them back, gets a few moments of breathing room. His fingers fly through familiar hand signs.

He won't leave Obito behind again, no matter what. He won't-

He realizes, dimly, that he hasn't used the Chidori since he returned to this point in time, but the familiar chirping is a bit like coming home.

It is so much easier to get through the clones with his signature technique at hand.

Kakashi bursts through the clones and continues towards Black Zetsu, destroying the earthen wall Black Zetsu summons without slowing.

A flurry of wind blades rise to meet him. While they would have been invisible to a normal eye, the technique glows with chakra to Kakashi's Sharingan; he dodges, allowing the Chidori to dissipate. Obito uses the opening to launch a large fireball at their opponent, but Black Zetsu escapes into the ground.

"Rin! Where's Rin!?" Obito shouts, looking around frantically. "Rin!"

Kakashi pushes Obito's frantic cries to the side, his attention split between trying to figure out where the Black Zetsu will re-emerge and trying to locate Rin.

Most of the clones are dead or incapacitated; Kakashi fends one off almost absently, still scanning for his targets. Unlike the Byakugan, the Sharingan obviously can't see beneath the earth - but the instant Black Zetsu shows his face aboveground, Kakashi and Obito will have him.

 _Unless he took Rin_.

But that's impossible. Obito was fighting him the whole time, even if Kakashi lost track of Rin in the melee.

"I have to find her," Obito says, even as he forms hand signs. But nothing happens, although Kakashi recognizes the sequence for the Hiding Like a Mole Technique. Obito looks furious, but he doesn't repeat the effort.

Kakashi doesn't have time to dwell on the strange development before a hand grasps his ankle. The earth beneath his feet loses density as his assailant tugs him down forcefully. He's fought numerous Iwa nin who tried to use the same trick on him, though, so instead of losing his composure he simply summons another wall of earth.

Black Zetsu is ejected from the ground, though its grip on Kakashi's ankle doesn't loosen in the slightest. Abruptly airborne, Kakashi kicks out at the Zetsu's wrist with his free foot; the delicate bones give way with a satisfying crack, releasing him. He flips away, landing several feet back.

At the same time, Obito took the opportunity to attack the Zetsu, first with a fireball - that Black Zetsu manages to dodge - and then closing with a kunai. Thick roots sprout from the clone's white arm, and though Obito's blade cuts deeply, it's not enough to sever the entangling limbs.

"Got you," Black Zetsu snarls, even as Obito struggles to escape the bindings.

Kakashi can't think of any technique that can free Obito without a high risk of injuring his friend in the process; Black Zetsu easily fends off his cautious attempts to rejoin the fray. In his distraction, Kakashi finds himself suddenly being attacked by the remnants of the clones and pushed away from the other confrontation.

"Why are you-!" Obito gasps, his kunai clattering to the ground as he tries to pry away the vine creeping around his throat with his bare hands.

Kakashi calls up another Chidori, but the clones are making a stronger effort to keep him separated from Obito. He's taking too long, and the vine is tightening around Obito's neck-!

"Why? When I first became aware that you and your _precious comrade_ sent us back to this time, I was willing to wait patiently for you to come to me so we could continue our plan," Black Zetsu muses. "But time passed, and you failed to appear. I thought it might be because you weren't in a position to do so. Imagine my surprise when the Zetsu clones I sent to observe and - if necessary - aid you, send reports back that you seem to have no intention of furthering our plans!" It shakes its head ruefully.

"But I suppose I should not have been surprised when, upon being reunited with your beloved _Rin_ , you discarded all of our plans. I'm the one who told you that the world is inherently selfish, after all," Black Zetsu hisses, pulling Obito closer so that they're practically nose to nose. "But Uchiha Madara does not take betrayal lightly," it finishes in a low snarl.

Obito snarls back wordlessly, throat too constricted to form a reply. He aims a kick at Black Zetsu's torso, but another root catches it. Obito suddenly releases the vine around his neck; Black Zetsu's free (broken) arm slaps one of his hands away, but Obito's other hand finds its target.

Black Zetsu rears back with a scream as Obito plucks out its Sharingan, throwing its captive away. Obito slams into the cave wall and drops to his knees, coughing.

"You worthless bastard!" Black Zetsu snarls, pressing its white hand over the gaping eye socket. The roots sprouting from its arm writhe about, as if sharing its pain.

"Odd," Obito spits, grinding the captured eye into the cave floor with a sickening wet sound. "I don't- recall- you having... any qualms about stealing your relatives' eyes!"

"You're right, I don't need you; simply having your Sharingan will do!" The roots suddenly halt, then shoot into the ground; Obito throws himself to the side, but more roots burst out of the ground, capturing his limbs and immobilizing him completely.

Kakashi manages to kill or incapacitate the last of the clones and sprints towards Black Zetsu, but its cold words draw him up short:

"I'll rend him limb from limb."

"Kill him, Kakashi!" Obito pants. "Don't- worry about me!" His mouth closes with a snap as the roots tighten and _pull_ , an ominous creaking noise audible to Kakashi.

 _Your words mean nothing. You're a man of empty words and no action_.

Kakashi trembles, the Chidori crying in his hand, paralyzed with indecision.

"... Kakashi! Just-" Obito breaks off with a pained cry, the sound almost drowned out by bones snapping. His right arm.

Black Zetsu watches Kakashi with one eye, making its way with agonizing slowness across the cave. Taunting him.

If he's fast enough- but the roots react nearly instantaneously. Kakashi can't move that swiftly.

Black Zetsu halts, a look of surprise, then fury, flashing across its face. "What-" its snarls, the roots retracting from the ground to dangle limply at its side. Severed. But by what-?

The roots around Obito slacken, and he slumps forward, cradling his right arm to his chest.

Kakashi doesn't hesitate, bursting forward to put the Chidori through Black Zetsu's chest. It coughs, but its strange amber eye doesn't dim.

"You're going to have to try a little harder than that to kill me," it rasps, hooking its black arm around Kakashi's neck when he tries to pull away. The roots of its white hand move more sluggishly than before, but they're still strong enough to overcome Kakashi's struggles. "I suppose you'll do. You have the same eye as Obito, after all."

"Kakashi!" Obito shouts hoarsely, and Kakashi can see him staggering to his feet (too slowly).

Rin emerges from the cave wall, a kunai - no, Kakashi's chakra sabre - clutched in her right hand. At Black Zetsu's head level. Black Zetsu turns, but Rin swings the blade faster.

While Rin wouldn't normally have the strength to behead a person, by channeling her chakra through the blade and essentially turns it into a long chakra scalpel which slashes through Black Zetsu's neck with little difficulty.

The roots entangling Kakashi go slack as Black Zetsu's head rolls off its shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finished this last night instead of well in advance as the past parts have been. As a result, I don't have time to proofread, like, the second half! Feel free to point out any/all embarrassing mistakes that I have made. :D
> 
> Feedback on the fighting would be nice, too. Not too sure about it... Eh.
> 
> Also, this chapter is an anomaly. I don't think any other chapters will be this long (relatively speaking) again. XD I considered splitting it into two parts but... there weren't really any nice spots to break it up.


	29. 26: regrouping

Kakashi staggers, taking several deep breaths before he starts coughing. Rin slips out of the wall, landing lightly on the cave floor, and starts pulling the roots off Kakashi.

"I didn't know you could use that technique," Kakashi remarks.

Rin sends him an exasperated look. "You two aren't the only ones who've been training hard lately," she says.

"Well, I'm glad," Kakashi says. "Thanks for saving my life."

Rin smiles and holds his chakra sabre out to him, hilt first.

"Thanks-" he starts to say, reaching for it, but she pulls it back out of reach.

"You were using a lot of techniques that I didn't know you could too," Rin points out. It seems that she's going to hold his father's blade hostage until she gets some answers. "And I know that you and Obito have been training together... It's pretty unlikely that you taught each other those jutsu."

Kakashi freezes. Half-remembered instances of Rin attempting to question his ignorant younger self about the change in her teammates filter through his mind. Well, he didn't think she was stupid. Still, he's too off-balance from the memories that the Sharingan seems to have returned to him to come up with a decent excuse.

So he glances at Obito, who has finally reached them. Obito raises his eyebrows in response.

"Ah, well, I've been working on them along with Chidori..." Kakashi doesn't quite wince at the unconvincing lie, or the out-of-character delivery. He can't force himself into emulating his younger self, though.

"Don't lie to me," Rin says coolly. She turns to Obito. "You said you'd tell me what's going on!"

"And we will," Obito says calmly. "When we get back to the village."

Kakashi can feel the drain of the Sharingan on his chakra already. He pulls his headband down over his left eye, which lessens the pull a little. "Will we?" They had never discussed telling anyone about- this.

"Yeah, you will," Rin says, pursing her lips. "But- later. We have to keep moving," she adds, her expression softening. "This could be a meeting place for Iwa shinobi."

An alarm goes off at the back of Kakashi's mind, but he's too exhausted to figure out what it is. "Yes. And the mission-"

Obito nods. "Let's get this over with," he mutters, his right eye back to the familiar slate grey.

"Right," Rin agrees, holding the chakra sabre out to him again. This time she lets him take it back.

"Thanks," Kakashi says again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bleh, finals are coming up and there's exchange fic obligations, among other things, looming in my future. So updates will slow down, though I hope to still post at least twice a week. We shall see...
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has stuck with the story so far! Your feedback is very much appreciated. :D


	30. 27: interrogation

"... So which one of you is going to explain this to me?" Minato-sensei asks, raising an eyebrow at his three students.

Rin looks at Obito and Kakashi. Kakashi looks at Obito. Obito looks back at him.

"Don't stumble over each other in your haste to give me an answer," Minato-sensei adds drily.

"Obito asked me to trade his and Kakashi's left eye after Kakashi was taken by the Iwa nin," Rin says finally.

Minato-sensei straightens up, his eyes narrowing. " _What_." He crouches to their level, glancing from Obito to Kakashi.

Kakashi supposes his and Obito's eyes are both close enough shades of gray that it would be hard to notice.

"Lift your headband, Kakashi," Minato-sensei orders.

Kakashi does so promptly, revealing the Sharingan that Rin transplanted into the left side of his head. "It drains my chakra too much, though," he explains, pulling the headband back down.

"Why would you propose something like that, Obito?" Minato-sensei asks, turning to Obito.

Obito shrugs. "I didn't get him a promotion present."

"And what possessed you to accept?" This question is aimed at Kakashi.

"I-" Kakashi's mind goes blank. He knows, objectively, that Minato-sensei is one of the most dangerous shinobi in Konoha. He just watched the man take down dozens of Iwa nin without a scratch. It's just that the man is so perpetually good-natured to his team that this cool, furious version of Minato-sensi has Kakashi at a loss.

The blond rounds on Rin. "You performed the transplant without his consent?"

Rin inhales sharply, looking stricken. "I- well-"

"It's not her fault," Obito interrupts.

"As the medic performing the procedure, you can bet that she's responsible!" Minato-sensei snaps.

"I-" Rin's brows draw together in confusion. "Why would I-"

"I hypnotized her with my Sharingan so she wouldn't question it," Obito says.

Kakashi stares at him in disbelief. Rin looks betrayed.

Minato-sensei looks furious. "You will not activate your Sharingan for the remaining duration of this mission," he says coldly. "We will discuss your actions when we return to the village."

"Hai, sensei," Obito says, looking down. He doesn't look like he regrets his decision though.

"Let's go."

"Sensei-" Obito says, looking up, but he stops when Minato-sensei fixes him with an icy glare.

"Yes?"

"We fought a strange man before the Iwa nin confronted us. He claimed to be Uchiha Madara... and he had a Sharingan."

Minato-sensei frowns. "Did you dispose of the corpse?"

"No," Kakashi answers promptly.

Minato-sensei follows them into the cave, and seals the Black Zetsu's corpse into a scroll with brisk efficiency. "Did this Madara say anything else?"

"-yes," Obito interjects quickly. "He mentioned a hideout. The Mountains' Graveyard."

Kakashi glances at him, but doesn't allow himself to frown. Minato-sensei is suspicious enough as it is, it won't do to arouse those suspicions any further. He'll have to ask Obito what the Mountains' Graveyard is later.

Rin doesn't say anything either, but she's standing as far as she can possibly be from Obito without leaving their little circle. Kakashi wonders what she's thinking about; the unreadable expression on her face doesn't offer many hints.

Minato-sensei frowns at them. "Is there anything else relevant at this exact moment?" he asks. When they shake their heads, he continues, "I'll get your full report when we stop for the night. In the meantime, we need to destroy that bridge."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a helpful anon on ff.net pointed out that it seemed strange that Rin would perform the transplants without Kakashi's consent, especially considering there was nothing wrong with Kakashi's eye.
> 
> Here is the (hastily thought of, oops) reason why.
> 
> But actually this is good because I want Obito to still be able to do morally ambiguous acts like this later on so this fits nicely. Many thanks, kind anon!


	31. 28: revelation 3

"I think I've figured out why we got sent back to this point in time," Obito says during their shift of watch that night. He doesn't sound anywhere near as pleased with this discovery as Kakashi would expect.

Of course, it could have something to do with the dressing-down that he'd received when they'd made camp that evening. It seemed that Minato-sensei had been harbouring suspicions about their strange behaviour for a while now, though with Kakashi lacking his memories of the future, there hadn't been anything besides their unusual training sessions.

The abrupt shift back to his future self's mentality had only brought those suspicions back to the fore. Coupled with Obito's uncharacteristic manipulation of a teammate, and his questionable activities concerning his recently-activated Sharingan...

Yeah, Kakashi could see where the suspicion was coming from.

"...Oh?" he replies neutrally, casting a glance in Obito's direction. Unusually, they're on the last watch. However, Kakashi had heard Minato-sensei and Rin murmuring together when he'd woken earlier. He imagined that the blond was grilling her. It makes sense - it must be obvious that Kakashi and Obito are up to something, while Rin is not in the loop.

Minato-sensei can get the truth of events from her, even if she can't tell him everything, and he'll be able to confront Obito and Kakashi with the knowledge later.

The other boy (man) is looking up at the sky, the corner of his mouth downturned. "Yeah. It's because the night before that escort mission was the first time I activated my Sharingan."

Kakashi stiffens. "I guess that makes sense... I was probably already asleep, so I just assumed that the morning after was when we returned..." he trails off, thinking. "But why would you have cause to activate your Sharingan in the village?" he asks.

Obito glances at him, then looks away again. The expression on his face was equal parts ashamed and furious. "Does it matter?" he asks harshly.

Kakashi blinks, taken aback at the sudden change in tone. He's become better at reading Obito's emotions - when he was on Team Minato the first time he'd had no real interest in Obito beyond the minimum required to function as a unit - and he _thinks_ that Obito's anger isn't directed at Kakashi himself.

His mind works through various scenarios - none of which seem remotely plausible. In the end, the context probably isn't important; what matters is Obito's Sharingan was activated. "I guess not," Kakashi agrees; knowing the cause won't change the fact that they're here. Neither of them has any intention of returning to that time - why settle for a false world when you can have the real thing?

"But that doesn't mean I don't want to know," he adds.

"Why?" Obito demands, still angry. "So you can understand why your _precious comrade_ turned out be such a fuck-up?"

"So I can understand why my precious best friend became such an idiot," Kakashi corrects mildly, staring at him calmly.

Obito inhales sharply, then deflates. "You're such an asshole," he says, but he sounds... rueful, maybe even sheepish.

"It's a good thing Rin and Minato-sensei are good people to balance us out," Kakashi says.

Obito's smile doesn't reach his eyes, but they look less furious then they did before; Kakashi counts it as a win and changes the subject.

"By the way, thanks for... you know," Kakashi says. He gestures vaguely at the left side of his face.

Obito looks away. "You're welcome."

"... You could've just remembered to get me something this time," Kakashi adds. "I'm just saying."

"Don't push it, asshole."

"It's not even really a gift if you took my eye in exchange, is it?" Kakashi muses.

"You know what? Just for that, I am not going to teach you how to deactivate it. You can just suffer chronic chakra deprivation, and I'll enjoy every single moment of that suffering," Obito deadpans.

"Yeah- wait, you think I can turn this off?"

"I guess you'll never know." Obito sounds far too smug for his liking.

Kakashi leans back, feeling about as content as he could be, under the circumstances. Though he and Obito seem to have restored their relationship, will it be at the cost of their teammates' trust?

He pushes those thoughts out of his mind, scanning the darkness around them. They're still in enemy territory, after all.


	32. 29: consequences

Minato-sensei waits until they cross the border before demanding information from Kakashi and Obito, despite his earlier words. That doesn't mean his anger has abated; there's a tension about him that isn't just to do with the fact that they're in hostile territory, and his eyes are hard whenever Kakashi meets his gaze.

He calls a halt earlier than usual; they've reached one of Konoha's border outposts. Usually it runs on a skeleton crew, but with the precarious situation between Iwa and Konoha right now, the place is nearly full to capacity.

Minato-sensei's name is enough to get them a room to themselves. It's hardly luxurious, but Kakashi reflects that it's better than spending the night in a crowded barrack.

Their teacher sets up a ward that Kakashi recognizes - it projects a low hum not unlike muffled conversation, masking whatever is actually being said within the room - and then turns to his team.

"Explain your actions, Obito," he says. "And do elaborate. No detail is too insignificant."

Obito shifts, his eyes wide behind his goggles. "Yes, sensei. Should I start from the beginning or-"

"The beginning."

Obito nods. "We were travelling through Grass and reached the river. We were planning to follow it to the bridge, but a pair of Iwa nin intercepted us. I believe they were jounin rank, probably teammates of the man you killed when we first entered Grass.

"One of them engaged Rin and me; he had some sort of camouflage technique. The other attacked Kakashi. Rin and I fended him off, but before we knew what was happening, the camouflaged man went after Kakashi. The two jounin captured Kakashi and ran away."

Obito frowns, glancing down at his hands. "Rin and I gave pursuit. When we arrived at the cave, where you found us, they were beating Kakashi, I assume to learn our purpose. The camouflaged man attacked us again, and I activated the Sharingan. Killing him was... easy, after that."

"Go on," Minato-sensei prompts after a few moments. His tone is neutral; there's no indication of his thoughts.

"Right, sorry." Obito exhales. "When we entered the cave, Kakashi was unconscious. The remaining Iwa nin started talking, but I didn't wait for him to finish. He was a little bit harder to kill than the other guy but not by much."

He reaches up to adjust his goggles, though they're seated correctly against his face. Stalling, though Kakashi supposes that the gesture could be taken as a nervous tic. "I remembered what you said to Kakashi, about his new technique being incomplete because he couldn't predict his enemies' movements but... with a Sharingan, he wouldn't have that problem, right?" Obito hunches his shoulders forward. "And I've been trying so hard not to- not to be such a screw-up, but I couldn't even remember to get Kakashi a present for his promotion..."

Obito's breath hitches, like he's on the verge of tears. Kakashi can't remember the last time that Obito cried, though.

"Obito," Minato-sensei says, his tone gentler now. "Why would you want to give your Sharingan away? It's true that with a Sharingan Kakashi's Chidori will be complete, but you've been working hard to activate your Sharingan for a long time. It-" He pauses here, searching for words. "Most clans do not give out their techniques lightly, much less the source of their kekkei genkai."

Obito sniffles, looks away. "So what if I went against the Uchiha way?" he asks defiantly. "It's not like they were ever going to acknowledge me anyway! If they have no use for me then... then I don't need them, either!"

Minato-sensei's eyes widen. "Obito, just because you activated your Sharingan a little later than most-"

"The only other kids in the clan who haven't got them yet are less than ten years old," Obito says flatly.

"People don't advance at the same rate, Obito-"

"They all make fun of me! My stupid cousins- Kakashi did, too, but at least he would train with me and help me get better! Is it so wrong that I wanted to give him something back," Obito snaps defensively. "My own father doesn't even look at me, he says I'm a disgra-" He stops, clenching his fists.

The atmosphere within the room shifts, Minato-sensei's eyes painfully wide. Like Kakashi, he's been an orphan for most of his life, but the memories he has of his parents are mostly positive.

Rin makes a pained noise, though she won't look at Obito directly.

Minato-sensei takes a slow, deep breath, his gaze moving from Obito to his other pupils. "Be that as it may, your actions towards Rin cannot be ignored. What possessed you to abuse the trust between the two of you? Why did you use your Sharingan against a teammate?"

Obito bites his lip and glances at Rin. She looks away, and only Kakashi is in a position to see the panic that flashes across her face.

Shit.

"I didn't know if more enemies were going to appear or not," Obito says quietly, looking subdued now. "I- I shouldn't have used my Sharingan on Rin, but I didn't want to risk our safety-"

"Was Kakashi's eye injured from the beating he sustained at the Iwa nin's hands?" Minato-sensei asks. "Rin?"

"No, sir," Rin says, staring at her lap.

"So there was no need to perform a transplant of Obito's eye."

"No, sir," she repeats. Her hands tremble faintly.

"Why couldn't you have waited for a better time, Obito?" Minato-sensei asks.

Obito doesn't meet his eyes. "I knew that people would object. My clan. You." He shrugs. "It's _my_ eye."

"And Kakashi's," Minato-sensei points out. His gaze switches to Kakashi. "What are your thoughts about all this, Kakashi?"

The Hatake were a prominent clan, at one time. Adherence to strict tradition declined with the clan's numbers, until only Kakashi was left. Sakumo died too early to impart much in the way of tradition; the only thing he really passed on were their techniques.

That being said, Kakashi is not stupid. He - his younger self - understood many things about the interactions of the many clans of Konoha, even if he was rarely a participant.

"Anyone would be stupid to turn down the offer of a Sharingan," he says honestly. "But there are other considerations. The Uchiha are a noble clan, after all." He leaves it at that; there's no need to elaborate on what they already know. "In the interest of keeping the peace, so to speak, I should have refused the transplant, given the chance."

Rin makes another distressed sound.

"I wouldn't have, though. I didn't expect this kind of gift but- I wouldn't have turned it down, even if I had the choice," Kakashi adds firmly. He doesn't think his younger self would have, either. Then again, his younger self wouldn't have known that the transplant would cause him to disappear.

Obito's been manipulating a lot of people lately.

Minato-sensei sighs, looking older. Tired. "You know, I thought teaching would be easy," he says, almost ruefully.

"I'm going to recommend that you remain confined to the village upon our return, Obito. You are not allowed to activate your Sharingan under any circumstances until we reach Konoha as well, is that clear?"

Obito nods.

"Even if your actions were not carried out with a malicious intent, you still violated the trust of your team. The Uchiha may be considered elite, but that does not mean any of them can go around hypnotizing their teammates whenever they consider it convenient."

"Yes, sir," Obito says.

"You had better hope," Minato-sensei adds, "that Rin's career does not suffer as a result of this."

Obito steals another glance at her; she still won't look at him.

"I didn't mean to-"

"I know, Obito. But you need to realize that your actions have consequences, not just for yourself. I hope you're ready to deal with them."

Someone knocks on the door, breaking the tension thrumming within.

"... Yes?" Minato-sensei calls after releasing the ward.

"Dinner's about to start in the mess, Minato-san."

Their teacher sighs again. "Thank you, we'll be there in a moment."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'll try to post twice a week," she said. Hahahahaha-
> 
> Sorry, guys. I have a bunch of other parts written, but they all occur later on in the story. I'm a little stuck writing the in-between scenes atm. Hence the slow updates. (If it's any consolation, this is a relatively long chapter..?!)


	33. 30: unpleasant truths

"Can Kakashi and I go for a walk, sensei?" Rin asks after the meal.

Obito glances from her to Kakashi. Kakashi shrugs minutely, though he does have some idea of what Rin wants. Her behaviour earlier was... telling.

Minato-sensei purses his lips. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, so close to the border," he says.

"There are plenty of patrols," Kakashi points out. "And we'd stay within sight of the fort, sensei."

After a moment's thought, Minato-sensei nods. "But whatever happens, I don't want you to use your... eye, either, Kakashi," he adds, remaining vague. Nevertheless, Kakashi can read between the lines: don't let anyone know that you have a transplanted Sharingan.

"Thanks, sensei." Rin grabs his hand and drags him away with surprising strength.

A couple of the older shinobi that they pass look upon the pair of teenagers with amusement.

Kakashi supposes that they do look like a young couple going off for a few moments of privacy. But he hopes that's not actually the case, for a number of reasons, not least because he isn't the Kakashi that Rin thinks he is.

"What's this about, Rin?" he asks when they exit the main entrance. The sun is little more than a haze of red at the horizon, and the moon has yet to rise. They skirt the fort's walls, both checking to be sure that no one is around to overhear their conversation.

"You're going to tell me what's up between you and Obito," Rin says, less confident than she had been after Kakashi was rescued, but firm all the same.

"You don't want Obito to be here..?"

"Obito lies," Rin says, her gaze darting to Kakashi's still-covered left eye. "He lied to sensei, but it was very well done."

"What? Then why didn't you say something, Rin?" Kakashi asks, trying for casual.

Rin gives him a flat look. "You, on the other hand, are not a very good liar," she says. "Obito can pretend to be... like he used to be, but you're not very good at it. I thought that something had changed about you when this first started months ago, but then you started treating Obito the way you used to. But now, right after I finish the transplant, you're acting weird again. You and Obito obviously know something, and you're the only one that I think would tell me the whole truth."

Kakashi doesn't quite sigh. Obito was the one who said he'd tell Rin the truth, Kakashi hadn't actually agreed to it. He's going to weasel out on a technicality, and he's going to ignore the voice that sounds suspiciously like Obito whispering _you're trash_ in the back of his mind for planning to lie to her. Telling her too much could be disastrous- No, it's better if only Kakashi and Obito know the truth.

The irony is that Obito probably would have told her everything, had she asked him. But he imagines that Rin can't bring herself to trust him right now.

"What do you want me to tell you?" he asks.

"What... changed? Between the two of you? You were never this close before. Obito never killed so easily before. You weren't this... nice isn't the right word. You weren't this soft."

"Soft. Ouch," he says drily.

"You would've gotten angry if I called you soft before," Rin points out, like Kakashi is proving her point. He supposes he is. "So, what is it." She crosses her arms, fixing him with her best _don't mess me with me_ glare. She'd used it to great effect when he was still a chuunin and too stubborn to ask for medical attention. In some ways at least, he hasn't changed.

"This is going to sound crazy," Kakashi says bracingly.

"Crazier than Uchiha Obito trading- you know," she says, glancing around.

"Yes," he agrees. Anything to stall for time and come up with something that won't make Rin run for their teacher.

Rin bites her lip. "Just tell me," she finally says.

Kakashi does sigh this time. "Obito and I are our future selves."

Rin looks at him sharply, disbelief clear on her features. Her mouth opens, then closes. She looks away again. "I wish you weren't wearing that stupid mask," she mutters; Kakashi isn't sure if he's supposed to hear that or not. "Ok, fine. I guess that explains how you've changed. You're not as much of a brat now. And Obito's grown out of his goofiness, I guess... But how did you get here then?"

"The Sharingan has more techniques than most people know," Kakashi says. "It doesn't just copy jutsu and hypnotize people."

"You're telling me all the Uchiha have the ability to _go back in time_ ," Rin says scathingly.

"To some extent. Obito's ability is a lot stronger than others. Well, that's not quite true; he was just the only one left in the future who could use that. Maybe there were other Uchiha who could too."

"... What do you mean, he was the only one left?"

"I mean, apart from... hm, two others? Obito was the only Uchiha left alive." He voices the words with deliberate callousness, hoping that the harsh words will dissuade Rin from inquiring any further.

Rin's face pales, stark against the dark forest. "What," she whispers. "How far in the future-? What could possibly happen to the Uchiha clan-? To Konoha-!?"

"Almost twenty years," Kakashi answers. "Certain events transpire that pit the Uchiha clan against Konoha. To avoid a coup or a civil war, a certain genius Uchiha agrees to massacre his clan. Konoha survives; the clan does not. It doesn't matter, though; less than ten years later, the five great villages get dragged into a world war anyway."

He doesn't mention the hand that Obito has in these events, under the guise of Uchiha Madara.

"Who could-?" Rin sounds horrified.

"I won't tell you who it is. Suffice to say that things are already changing."

"So you and Obito came back in time to change what went wrong?" Rin looks up at him hopefully.

"Yes," Kakashi agrees. "One thing that hasn't changed is that Obito gave me... my promotion gift. The time travel technique is only possible with both eyes. That's why both of us were sent back."

"So the, ah, eyes are why you can remember the future and no one else does?" Rin asks. "Or was it just you and Obito at the end..."

"I think so," Kakashi says. "I had it for almost twenty years, but since I no longer had it at this time, my memories started to fade. Gai was there too, and he thought what happened was just a dream; he had no memory of... everything."

"What about that... Zetsu?" Rin asks. "He responded to Madara... But there's no way that was Uchiha Madara."

Kakashi supposes that Madara had witnessed what happened as well - and he had the Sharingan, so he must have remembered too. He still doesn't know everything that went on between Obito and Madara, though - from their brief interaction in the future and what Obito had mentioned now, it was obvious that they were working together to create the infinite Tsukuyomi, but...

He'd assumed Madara would be a non-issue. Since Gai hadn't remembered, it seemed obvious to think that Madara, wherever he happened to be at this time, wouldn't either. Which was not the case.

"Kakashi?" Rin prompts uncertainly. "Was that Madara?"

"I don't know," Kakashi says. "Like you saw, the one in control was the one with the black half... I think that must have been Madara, or at least part of him? I don't know," he repeats.

"Was... was I there? In the future? I must not have been, because I know that you and Obito didn't ask me about anything... Was I just not there or was I-"

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi says firmly. "Like I said, things are changing."

Rin stares at him, then shakes her head. "I was dead, wasn't I? Why else wouldn't you tell me." She gives a soft, mirthless laugh. "How did I die?"

Kakashi's Sharingan dutifully plays back that horrible mission, the desperate flight from the Kiri nin and his last resort-

"That bad, huh?" she whispers.

"I told you, it's not going to happen again," he says, more harshly than he intends. "Obito and I were... deeply affected by your-" He exhales. He's a jounin, ex-ANBU, he shouldn't have a problem discussing death. Even if the deceased in question is standing right in front of him.

Rin nods. "It's not going to happen again, you said?" she murmurs, twisting her hands together anxiously.

"It's not," Kakashi agrees. "Obito and I would die before we let someone hurt you."

Rin flinches at the mention of their teammate. "But then why did he-?" She glances at the left side of Kakashi's face again before looking away.

"He must have felt there was no other choice," Kakashi answers. It feels inadequate; Rin doesn't look particularly soothed.

"How about this," he says, awkward, as the silence stretches between them. "I'll tell you when you've passed your death day."

Rin wrinkles her nose. "Seriously," she mutters, though she doesn't look as uncomfortable. "Are you really in your thirties? That's morbid and awful. Even younger Kakashi had some tact. I don't think even Obito would say something like that!"

"... Ow. It's insult after insult tonight, isn't it. 'You're soft, Kakashi. You have no tact'," he mimics, pitching his voice higher for dramatic effect. "I see how it is." He adopts his best Pakkun-puppy-look, though the devastation factor is probably a lot lower due to his having to convey the whole thing with only one eye.

Rin snorts and pushes him. "You're lame now," she tells him. "I don't know why I ever thought that aloof attitude was cool. But seriously, this is worse," she adds gravely. "And it's weird because you're more than twice my age but you're technically a year younger."

"Hey, thanks for reminding me," he says sarcastically. "I'd been trying to forget about the fact that I'll have to go through puberty twice."

Rin giggles. "Maybe we should get back now," she remarks, smile fading. "Sensei will probably be worried."

"Ah, Rin," he says, falling into step beside her as they walk towards the main entrance again. "Do you suppose... that you could leave this from Minato-sensei?"

Rin glances at him, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why."

Kakashi shifts uncomfortably. "Because the less people that know about this, the better. I know I keep repeating myself, but things are changing. The first time around, you were the one who got kidnapped, not me. And that Zetsu-Madara didn't show up. So... Why get everyone worried needlessly?"

"But if you tell Minato-sensei about the big things, he'll be in a better position to help avert them!" Rin insists, outright frowning now. "Like... you must know what happens in the war! Major offensives, and counterattacks and- think about all the lives you can save."

"Rin. Trust me-"

"-I can't," Rin says, without hesitation.

Kakashi winces. Well, he probably deserves that. He has spent the majority of this conversation essentially lying to her. "Just- I swear, the different outcome from this mission will create a lot of changes. Please, Rin."

Her eyes widen, then narrow again. "Did I die during this mission?" she whispers, like she can't quite believe it.

"No, Rin, I told you. I'll tell you when that passes. But it's after this mission that Uchiha Madara starts moving against the other villages," Kakashi says, conveniently leaving out the fact that it's really Obito under Madara's name.

"... Why is that? You said he didn't show up in the first mission," Rin says.

Kakashi feels like cursing her sharp mind. "As you might have guessed, Madara had a grudge against Konoha," he hedges. He's aware that the best lies have some truth in them, but the real problem is finding the right balance of truth and falsehood without implicating Obito.

"Obito got separated from us during the mission and ran into Madara. I don't know the specifics, but something about the encounter prompted a renewal of Madara's hatred for the village that spurned him - Konoha - and the clan that he felt had betrayed him - the Uchiha. He's the one who engineered the massacre, using one of their brightest prodigies to carry it out with his aid. And he later led a prominent criminal organization against Konoha. Not long after that, the world war broke out."

Rin stares at him, speechless.

"It sounds outlandish, I know, but-"

"So why shouldn't we tell Minato-sensei about all this!" she hisses. "You're not being very convincing!"

"Obito's already leading him to where the real Madara must be, not that Zetsu clone thing," Kakashi says, hoping that the 'Mountains' Graveyard' Obito had mentioned was indeed Madara's hideout. "Think about it this way, Rin. If Konoha dominates in this war, it could prompt the other villages to ally against us. Who knows what else could change as a result of that?"

Rin frowns. "This isn't right," she says. "It's like you're playing god, picking and choosing what to change just because you think it's to everyone's benefit. You could save so many lives, Kakashi."

"And who would die in the changes we'd bring?" Kakashi retorts, sharper than he intends. Probably because her words have the sting of truth.

She exhales heavily, frustrated. "I still think- But, fine. You have your reasons, and you don't want to tell me those reasons. I don't feel like you have a malicious intent, although..." She shakes her head. "You're really not the stickler for rules that you used to be," she remarks.

"No," he agrees. "I'm not."

Rin's jaw clenches and she turns away jerkily. "I won't tell Minato-sensei about this."

"Or anyone else," Kakashi presses.

Rin gives a soft laugh. "You're asking me to trust you, but you obviously don't trust me either," she says, sounding almost sad.

"It's not that-"

"Yes, it is," Rin says calmly. "Whatever, it is what it is. I swear that I won't tell anyone else about anything that you've told me tonight. I don't know who would believe me, anyway, besides Minato-sensei or Kushina. It's not like anyone else knows you well enough to realize how much you and Obito have changed," she adds bitterly. "And Obito's doing a pretty good job of hiding even that from Minato-sensei."

"Thank you, Rin," he says sincerely.

"Don't thank me," she mutters, striding away. "I just don't want to get hypnotized by the Sharingan again, even if I wouldn't remember it."

Kakashi winces once more and lets her go without making an effort to catch up.

He isn't sure what it says about himself that he worries more about what Minato-sensei is going to think about Rin's obvious distress than he regrets deceiving Rin and twisting her arm to secure a promise she obviously didn't want to give him.


End file.
